Electric furnace



Dec. 18 1928.

J. C. WOODSON ELECTRIC FURNACE Filed Sept 28, 1926 mm HM lNVENTOR WITNESSES:

Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. WOODSON, OI MANSFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION 6 OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

Application filed September 28, 1926. Serial No. 138,188.

My invention relates to electric furnaces and particularly to insulatin means for supporting resistors in electric urnaces.

One object ber.

Another object of my invention is to provide a. sectional resistor-supporting member.

A further object of my invention is to provide a resistor supporting member inwhich the insulating blocks are held in position by inter-locking metallic sections.

In practicingwmy lnventlon according to the present embodiment, I provide in an elec l6 tric furnace, a plurality of resistor-supporting members for maintaining a resistor 1n proper operative position, each resistor member being suspended from the side wall by suitable means. Each resistor supporting member comprises recessed interlocking metallic sections assembled in juxtaposed relation. The recesses of such sections cooperate to form a receptacle inwhich are placed insulating blocks of refractory material having means to receive and hold a resistor.

In the drawing,

Fi 1 is a view in vertical lateral section,

of a furnace embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section, of the furnace shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken in a direction parallel to the resistor memb'ers. I

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are views showing details of the resistor-supportin members embodied in the furnace shown in ;ig. 1.

being constructed of suitable refractory heat and electric insulating material. The furnace 10 has an opening 16 at one end that may be closed, while the furnace is operating, by any suitable means known in the art. For the purpose of heatin the furnace, resistor memers 17 are provi ed and are held in proper osition along the side walls of the furnace y resistor-supporting members 19.

The resistor-supporting members are held in suspended positions along the side walls of the furnace by means of hooks 21. The resistor-supporting member comprises a casing and refractory insulating resistor-supporting of my invention is to provide a 6 simple and eflicient resistor-supporting memblocks within said casing. The casing comprises, in the present form of my invention, a pair of metallic sections24: and 25 that are adapted to be placed .in juxtaposed relation and, when thus assembled, are adapted to hold insulating blocks, placed therebetween, in

. their proper positions, these blocks to be hereinafter described.

The sections 24 and 25 have openings 26 and 27, respectively, at their upper ends for engaging the hooks 22 to hold the resistor-supporting members in proper suspended positions, as best shown in Fig. 1. The openings 26and 27 are formed in the upper parts 28 and 29 of the members 24 and 25, respectivel These portions 28 and 29 are offset from t e main portion of the section. At the lower end of the section 24, an offset portion or lip 32 is provided having an opening 33 therein. At the corresponding end of the section 25, an offset tongue member 34: is provided that is of such dimensions and so shaped that it is adapted 'tofit into the opening 33 of the section 24 when the two sections are placed in assembled relation, thus locking the sections together, as best shown in Fig. 1.

I, Sections 24] and 25 have i ntermediate recessed portions 36 and 37, respectively, that are substantially rectangular in shape. These recessed portions 36 and 37 are adapted to form a partially open receptacle or compartment when the sections 24'and 25 are assembled. Within this receptacle, suitable refractory insulating blocks are placed and are maintained in position by the side walls-and end walls of the receptacle, as will be obvious from the'drawing. 1

Two forms of refractory electro-insulating blocks are shown in the drawings. The form of block shown in Fig. 5 and on the left hand side of Fig. 1, to which the reference numeral 40 is applied, is rectangular in shape and is provided with a plurality of spaced grooves 41 in one face thereof.

The blocks 40 are each of such dimensions that, when a pair of them are positioned with the grooves 41 on the blocks registering with each other, the blocks will fit snugly within the receptacle formed by the recesses 36 and 37 and will be supported and held in proper operative positions b the walls of said recesses, as is shown in Fig. 1. The grooves 41 on one block are adapted to form, with the registering grooves 41 on the other block, a plurality of spaces for receiving the resistor 17. 1

When a series of supporting members are placed in the furnace and suspended from the hooks 21, it is apparent that the passages formed by the registering grooves 41 in one supporting member will be aligned with similar passages in the other members, and resistor coils positioned in said aligned passages will be maintained in the proper spaced positions necessary for the successful operation of the furnace.

A block of another type is shown in Fig. 6 and, in assembled relation, on the right hand side of Fig. 1. The block 43 is also of rectangular shape but is of such dimensions as to permit a column of such blocks to be placed in the receptacle formed by recesses 36 and 37, the contacting faces of such blocks extending horizontally instead of vertically, as in the form shown in Fig. 5. These. contacting horizontal faces are each provided with a semi-cylindrical groove 44 and the groove 44; on the upper face of one block will register with the groove -14 in the lower face of the vertically adjacent block to provide a space for receiving the resistor 17.

It will thus be seen that, when a column of these blocks has been placed within a casing formed by the sections 24 and 25, a vertical row of spaces will be formed and, when the casing has been suspended from a hook 21, these spaces will be in substantial alinement with spaces in similar resistor-supporting members, to receive and maintain in proper position a resistor member, as will be appar ent from the description and from Fig. l.

A resistor member, when suspended by means of the openings 26 and 27 engaging a hook 21 and having one section in contact relation to a side wall, will be maintained in assembled relation by means of the interlocking portions 33 and 34, the hook 21, the side wall and the hook-engaging members of the two sections. Of course, it is not necessary that the supporting member be in contact relation with the side wall for the parts thereof to be maintained in assembled relation, but such contact relation will assist in the prevention of an accidental disassembling of the parts.

It is obvious that the supporting members may be positioned horizontally instead of vertically by providing a pair of hooks instead of one hook for each supporting memher.

It is obvious also that other means than hooks might be used to hold the supporting members in suspended positions.

While I have shown and described, for purposes of illustration, a particular form of my invention, it may, of course, be embodied in other forms withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric furnace provided with resistors, in combination, a resistor support comprising a pair of metallic sections, each section having a recess, means for holding said sections in assembled relation, the recesses of the assembled sections constituting a receptacle, and insulating blocks positioned in said receptacle and adapted 'to support a resistor, and means for removably supporting said resistor support in said furnace.

2. In an electric furnace provided with hooks in its side walls, in combination, a plurality of resistor-supporting members, each supporting member comprising a pair of opposed metallic sections, each section having means at its upper end for engaging said hooks to support said members, the sections of each member having interlocking portions, each-section having a recess, the recesses of opposed sections cooperating to form a receptacle, and resistor-engaging blocks positioned in said receptacle.

3. In an electric furnace provided with a hook, a resistor-supporting member compris' ing a pair of juxtaposed metallic sections having means at their upper ends for engaging said hook, recesses in said sections cooperating to form a receptacle. resistorsupporting insulating blocks positioned in said receptacle, one of said sections being provided, at its lower end, with a lip having an opening therein, the other of said sections being provided, at its lower end, with a tongue, said tongue fitting in said opening to lock the sections together.

4. In an electric furnace, a resistor support comprising a pair of co-operating metallic sections defining a recess therebctween. a plurality of insulating blocks disposed in said recess, registering grooves formed in adjacent faces of said blocks adapted to receive portions of a resistor, and means for removably supporting said structure in said furtrace.

5. In a furnace having a supporting hook in a side wall thereof, a resistor support comprising a pair of sections hingedly connected at one end thereof and defining a recess therebetween, resistor-engaging insulating means in said recess, and co-operating means between the opposite end of said sections, said hook and said furnace side wall for supporting and maintaining said sections in assembled operative relation.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of September, 1925.

J M13318 0. WOODSON. 

